More Rumors Trickling Out About Corazon Replacement

I’m getting more rumors about the do-over for the old Pinot/Corazon space on SW 12th Ave.

Per my previous post, the current plan is for Lardo to take over one section, and a new restaurant called Ración to take the other part. The split would give Lardo the smaller portion.

Lardo, a “modern sandwich shop and beer garden” on SE Hawthorne, will take over the west end of the space. They have quickly developed a large following, and with a similar menu of their legendary sandwiches, hope to do so in the downtown location. During the winter months, the crowd is expected to drop at the SE location, so part of the already-trained staff could move over.

Ración, by Anthony Cafiero, previously of Tabla, is to be “an innovative Spanish restaurant”. Plans call for it to have a flexible menu modeled after a sushi bar – not as in fish, but in concept. The model looks affordable, while allowing them to raise the overall tickets, though it’s hard to project with tapas just how much the guests are going to spend. The idea of Cafiero doing an optional $75 tasting menu is being bandied about.

Ryan Magarian of Liquid Relations is doing the bar, but the bartender himself will be de-emphasized to the back-of-the-house, as they feel the days of the “big ego bartender” are slowly coming to an end. The design at Ración will be clean and unpretentious; nothing that will distract from the food. Plans call for the current bar to be removed and replaced with a u-shaped design.

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12 comments:

Portland Food Adventures: Too cool for school on this one? LOL. Just giving you crap, but I gotta call you on this one. “This” didn’t exist as a plan or model “a few weeks ago”. Corazon was open a few weeks ago. Talks started about what to do at that time, but this new Lardo / bar design / concept finalized nine days ago. And the bar manager and sous have just recently been decided on. “A” for effort though. ;-P